Reliance Jio after cornering the big daddies (Vodafone, Airtel) with its tariff plans, now it seems to take the animosity forward to the phone makers. Yes! The newly launched Jio phone has slowly and steadily become the no 1 feature phone brand, overriding its rival Samsung. The much rumored 4G feature phone was launched in August 2017 for free with a refundable deposit of Rs 1500. Today the phone has become the no 1 brand, thus giving a cut-throat competition to its rivals.
Jio Phone shakes up Samsung, Micromax and other phone makers
Jio phones have given a run for its money to its rival phone makers like Samsung, Nokia, Micromax and China’s Itel phones. The company has expanded its feature phone market size by 43% on year-to 50 million in the quarter. Overall shipments have increased by 51% on year and 32% sequentially as compared to 10-12% of what the industry ships. Its ability to manufacture in the massive lots has given a serious threat to its rivals.
Mobile Phone Maker | Share |
Jio | 27% |
Samsung | 17% |
Micromax | 5.3% |
By December, Jio had shipped around 15 million units. To make the matters worse for its counterparts Jio Phone further increased the data allowance of Rs 153 a month plan, and Rs 99 as Prime Membership for a year. Earlier the company used to give 1 GB data for free to its users and now it has increased to 1.5 GB. Thus, giving an end to the Samsung supremacy.
The company has already proposed to invest Rs 5,000 crore in West Bengal to bolster up its telecom arm and will soon shift its manufacturing base from China to India, thus removing all the bottlenecks and increasing the supply.
Will Reliance Jio be able to create a monopoly?
The company has already established itself as the market leader in the mobile internet segment and it is predicted that it will continue to outperform further. Its widening net profit, increasing subscriber share, loss of other data operators like Idea, Vodafone and Airtel reflects that best is yet to come. With all these numbers in hand, can we say that Reliance monopoly will surpass its competitors or will this sunshine industry will regain its lost momentum?